Perspectives on the beautiful game of soccer; fueled by enormous amounts of coffee

Saturday, August 18, 2007

The Beckham effect

Wow, another amazing game. Tough for the Galaxy to walk away from that one with nothing. Beckham went the full 90 and contributed a lot, but he was obviously having trouble with the FieldTurf and not striking his free kicks as well. The FieldTurf could also have had an assist in taking out Ante Jazic.

I think the nearly 70,000 fans at Giants stadium got full value and hopefully some of them return.

Realistically, though, the Galaxy have to look at the question - is the acquisition of Beckham a failure if they don't make the playoffs?

20 comments:

I'd say the price should be payed by whoever signed Alan Gordon, Ante Jazic, Kevin Harmse, and a couple of other folks on the back line. Xavier is a only decent defender the Galaxy has. Once he is out, the rest of the folks just don't have a clue.

I don't discount the fact that NY has a good team. Still, NY got way too much space to operate.

So, I guess this means get rid of Lalas.

Even though the Galaxy lost, I thought this was one of the better games I've seen them play in a long time. At times, they looked like a real team. I just feel sorry for them - they earned at least a point in this game.

Those who call for Yallops head are wrong IMO. He's a good coach and with all the circus/injuries it's not easy. I think he needs to be left doing his job this season and judge him next season. More or less 2thirds of the team were exchanged and that wasn't Yallops wish... step forward AEG and Lalas.

btw didn't Cosmos and Pele miss aswell the playoffs in the 1st year...

What a wonderful game & atmosphere that was (appart for all defenders)MLS has won big time tonight!

Despite coming away with nothing I enjoyed the game, and I had to get up at 2am CET to watch the game.

Just saw the highlights on ESPN's Soccernet, can't blame Bobby Boswell for calling out the fact that all the highlights are of Beckham. Once again ESPN decided to show only the highlights that involved Beckham. I understand that he is the show and thats who people came to see, but its not fair to the other players on the field or in the league to show only two assist from Beckham and a sliding tackle that wasn't as nearly as dirty as Becks would like us to believe.

There were some great goals scored in that game and unfortunately b/c of the fixation on Beckham most casual fans will never get to see what great soccer other players in MLS can produce.

If the Galaxy fail to make the playoffs I fear Yallop will take the blame. There is just too much money involved for someone to not be the fall guy for a failure to make the playoffs two seasons in a row. But much of what has occurred as been out of his control. Lalas should have stepped up and ask that the schedule be changed so that it would not put LAG at such a disadvantage in the 2nd half of the season. He could have also shielded the team from some of the media attention instead of drawing it. Both coach and GM are due their share of the blame in on how the season has gone. Regardless of what we think 3 wins on the season so far is bad no matter how you try to spin it. One of the two or maybe both heads are going to role. Lalas is likely not going anywhere as he is a favorite son. Leaving Yallop to fin for himself.

Beckham got here too late. It was the poor start and Landon missing too many games that caused the poor start. But i have to second guess the moves being made by the GM or Manager. Whoever is the cuplit off all these bobo moves should go.

Yallop is an innocent bystandard when compared to the train wreck that is Alexi "the mouth" Lalas. Alexi is great at making headlines for everything except putting a winning team on the field.

His trades which were intended to get players who can deal with the pressure of the Beckham circus, have instead sent quality youth away from LA and have resulted in an aging, but well-intended team without pace (except for Landon) and prone to injury.

As for who is to blame, I say team chemistry and a failure to find the right mix. I think the folks here now are going to be better than the folks they replaced. However, it takes the old adage hard - "it takes talent to get talent". I think the results will show more next year.For now, let's try to win Superliga and take better play each game.The back line has been decimated, and with folks floating to fill positions there is little hope of chemistry making it work.I would say to let everyone keep their post into the first of next season, and grade at that point.Peace,

I am going to add to my last night's comments. As far as the reasons for not making the playoffs (and they probably won't), are many: (1) Poor draft and trading choices, (2)Very strangle schedule, dictated by marketing, not futbol needs and common sense, (3) absence of key players for long periods of time (Beckham got here late and injured, Donovan out for a lot of games), (4) unfamiliarity of the players (caused by many personnel changes). Even with the best GM and manager, a team in these circumstances might not have made the playoffs.

Having said that, I still think Lalas needs to go. I just do not see any intelligent pattern to the changes he has made. So, his only attribute is making outrages, thought at times funny, statements. May be good for a TV job, but GMs are rated on different qualities.

I would not necessarily blame Frank Yallop. I haven't seen any evidence that he has lost control of the team. He's working with what he's got, which (outside of Beckham, Donovan, Xavier, and MAY BE be, Buddle, Randolph, and Pavon), isn't much. Hell, but for the last game, Pavon also look dreadful.

Also, in Frank's defense, in the last 2 games or so, they looked better as a team.

Being booed by the home team would be considered a compliment in the other places Beckham has played. I was at the match and the atmosphere was just about right (except for the guy to my upper left ;-)! ). Beckham applauded the stands and was applauded back in the end.

Who should pay the price for the season? Lalas has made so many mistakes I've lost count and is certainly on my last nerve. But the bottom line is that the courting of Beckham was hoped to pay off in two years -- even in the Fall it was still expected that he would re-sign with Madrid -- and I'm not sure it was possible to prepare the team or the league quickly enough for what they took on in such a short time. Having said that, they didn't have to actually shoot themselves in the foot as often as they did.

Hopefully, the ankle heals, the team gets in some practice together, management (any management) starts making more thoughtful decisions, and next season looks a lot different.

This question is far too easy. Lalas should have his head handed to him at the end of the season. I don't think Yallop is to blame for the current situation.

It's clear that all the personnel moves have damaged team chemistry, and while this squad may gell eventually, it's too late at this point to make the playoffs no matter how many games in hand the galaxy have on the rest of the league.

That being said, Xavier and Beckham have been valuable, and this will pay off in the futre.

Even if the Galaxy don't make the playoffs (not looking likely right now), the acquisition of Beckham has been a success. If Yallop takes the fall, I'm sure he'll be welcomed by the new 'Quakes (which would only add to the joy of NorCal beating up on SoCal again.) I'm wondering how much input Beckham is going to have in the team's restructuring in the off-season - if only to help out with scouting talent, etc. Regardless of what happens the rest of this season, if Beckham sticks around I can't imagine the Galaxy missing the playoffs during the 2008 campaign.

Winning the Superliga and going into next season with some momentum and buzz is not a total failure in my book. Beckham has 4 more years on his contrract. In the off season Donovan has to move on because of the cap and DP restrictions. Bring in some new players with the available cash and lets have a full season with a healthy Beckham and the Galaxy will be fine.

to "coop": don't even joke about such things - yallop might be ok but lalas has been an absolute disaster wherever he's been, we don't want him in san jose. when LAG can't buy another DP slot to keep Landon, we'd be happy to give him a home here before he heads to La Liga or (god forbid) the Premiership.